From Within (In Progress)
by Redfox01
Summary: A teenager from Texas goes cross-country in search of a safe haven in the middle of a symbiotic apocalyptic world. Will he do the unthinkable, and survive? Or become one of the monsters that wreck havoc in his life? Or will he do both? (Story has a plot line similar to Spiderman Web of Shadows, but no spiderman or venom.) (Please review, I support constructive criticism.)
1. Chapter 1

**March 29th, 2017-** I had just found another journal in a corner store. I lost my old one when a symbiote ripped off my backpack and it fell off my back, which spilled most of the contents down a storm drain. I shot it in the face 3 times with buckshot for that. Tough luck, I guess. That was 3 days ago. I couldn't waste time to grab it. I had to keep moving. My gunshots would attract more. I'll try to explain the past in a little bit. I have to go.

 **From Within**

 **Chapter one: Back For More**

The first weeks of the outbreak was rough. I lost everything I had, all in one day. My parents, my sister, and my grandparents. Just like that. We had been on a ranch while the world was thrown into a fiery chaos. When we were ambushed by a pack of symbiotes, I had to flee. From Texas, I moved north to Oklahoma, where I heard a radio signal all the way from New York. They said there was a safe haven. It was my best shot, considering that I wasn't going to last long by myself. I'm 16 years old, what do I do? I didn't know where else to go. I didn't have anyone helping me, so why not? As of now, I am currently in Kentucky, in a small town called Salyersville. I had to stop to scavenge for some gasoline and water. Hopefully there was not much action going on there.

When I approached the first house, I noticed that a car in its driveway was riddled with bullet holes. The car doors were open, and blood ran from the seat onto the cement below. It was an ambush, but why would people fight each other? Maybe the driver was somehow infected? I'll never know. But now I knew this town was busy during the start of the apocalypse. I would keep my eyes peeled for hostiles- Human or symbiote. I drove into what looked like the town square. A few cars were in the street, silent and still. They looked mostly intact, so I stopped the truck and siphoned the gasoline out of a few of them and put them either into the truck or into one of my few gas cans. I kind of liked being alone- No one supervised you, no one told you what to do, and no one told you what was right and what was wrong. I also managed to find a few cans of food in a box in one of the car seats, but no water. I was sure I would find some here in this small town.

I started the truck and drove onwards to more buildings. I was surprised I hadn't found any symbiotes yet. They must have moved onto more populated areas. A new set of buildings came into view, I saw a few restaurants, a bank, and a small fabric shop. I set my interests on the restaurants for water, so I grabbed my shotgun, parked the truck, and walked towards one called, "Isaac's brew". I looked into the partially shattered window and saw what looked to be a stereotypical bar. A few regular tables, and of course, a bar table. I opened the door slowly and raised my shotgun. Something could be in here, waiting to scare the s**t out of me. I stepped on some broken glass, and winced; that was _very_ loud. I crept further into the room and looked around. The chairs were stacked on the tables, save a few thrown about the floor. I moved forward into the back of the bar, where the actual bar table was, and saw a door, labeled, "Employees only". I kept my eyes on that door, thinking if I should go in silently or guns blazing. I made my mind for the guns blazing strategy.

I flicked on the duct-taped flashlight on the end of my shotgun, took a deep breath, and… Something behind me, I heard a foot scrape or scratch of some kind. I froze and turned my head and gun, but nothing was there. I clearly hear something… Was it just the wind blowing glass around? I was spooked out. It was nothing, right? I decided to just stick my head slightly into the room and see what was inside. I slowly crept my head in. Light slightly poured in and some distinct objects became visible. A chrome cooking table, a grill, and… a few blood stains on the floor. This sight made me uneasy. I can't go in there. It creeped me out. I kept my eyes on the door until it completely closed, and then I turned my head. This only revealed a pack of symbiotes inspecting my truck parked outside. I cursed under my breath, ducked behind the bar, and flipped off my flashlight. There was 5 of them. No way I could take them all on in this position. I moved my eyes slightly above the table. They were still there, only now looking around the truck.

They knew someone was here. I had to hide. I waited until they weren't looking and I went quickly but quietly into the back room. I closed the door I flipped on the flashlight and looked around. I saw what seemed to be… Oh, God. I had to turn and cover my nose simultaneously because the smell hit me as soon as I saw it. I knew why there was blood on the floor now. I tried to look away from it while also moving away from the door. The… _Body_ was across the chrome cooking table from me. I heard some glass breaking outside the door. Crap. They were coming inside. I had to hide, **now**. I looked around the room for a hiding spot, and quickly settled for under a small sink that I could wedge in. I steadied my breathing and prepared for them to enter. The door creaked open, and light poured in once more. I couldn't see anything, but I heard one growl. It still smelled awful, from the… person. I heard some more footsteps, but it was not getting any closer. Moments later, the door shut and the light disappeared. Now only the small window shed light into the room. More quiet footsteps, but not any closer. What was it doing? Something hit the floor with a suppressed thud. The door flew back open, and it left.

I stayed where I was for five minutes before I began moving out of the hiding spot. I stood back up, still looking at the doctor or. I flipped on my flashlight once again and moved to the other side of the table, where the body was still laying. I almost got sick again. I realized what killed that person… and _ate_ half of them. I thought of a sickening conclusion. They had to feed the host... somehow. I shook at the thought, but refocused and glanced out the door window. The symbiotes were gone. I turned back to look for that water I had originally came for. It took a few cabinets before I found a few gallon jugs of water. I got what I came for, and now I needed to move. I opened the door once more and proceeded quickly to my truck, the jugs of water sloshing around in my backpack. I kept my shotgun up and pointed for anything that moved. I stepped out into the street and looked out both ways. Empty. My truck sit idle and motionless. The slight breeze ran through my hair as I made it to the truck. It's funny, really. There could be peace amidst the chaos in this world, but you had to really notice it to get the effect.

Once I started the truck, I would have to move fast, cause those symbiotes would hear me immediately. I hopped in and threw my backpack and shotgun into the passenger seat. I quickly started the truck and drove off. I began to finally leave the small collection of buildings when I looked in the back mirror and saw a freaking symbiote running towards the truck in an animal like fashion- On all fours. I couldn't really speed up cause there were cars scattered, so I thought of the next best thing. I slammed on the brakes when it got close enough, and a thump hit the back of the truck. I switched to reverse and sped up. It felt like a small speed bump. I went back to drive and peeled out. I didn't want to look back. It was dead alright, I just didn't want to see a smeared body on pavement. I left that town with one less symbiote to deal with. Back on the road, but there wasn't much left to travel. New York was a only 8 hours away now.

I just kept thinking about my past life. Just a typical urban kid from Texas, and now turned to this? How was I even still alive? Luck? Probably. Skill? No way, I had little knowledge of surviving something like this. I had everything handed to me, I didn't have to work for anything. I looked at one of my hands. It looked back, blisters and blood stained. Have I just become a simple killing machine now? I didn't feel emotion when I killed symbiotes. I just did it from sheer hatred. It was my family. That's why. They killed my family. Those stupid f***ing symbiotes. I stopped the truck. I needed to think for a minute. I shouldn't have a mental breakdown when going down a double lane road at 60 mph. I laid my head on the steering wheel. Why me? Why now? Before the outbreak, I was at one of the lowest points in my life. School sucked, and my life seemed pointless to myself.

I stopped thinking. I looked in the back mirror. Nothing was there. I could have sworn… I hopped out of the truck, but with my AR-15 this time. What the hell was that? It wasn't black, nor human. A deer? I looked down the tree line that it escaped through. Yep, a deer. And I just managed to see it disappear behind the brush. I stood there for one more moment before turning back to the truck. I had a few more steps to go to the truck before I saw a symbiote. On the hood. Of my truck. Crouching there. Looking at me. I raised my rifle, but didn't fire. The bullet would pass through it and shatter the window. It hopped down and snarled at me. I walked slowly around to the right, trying to get an angle so I didn't hit the truck. It just stood there. Looking. Almost… smiling. Why wasn't it charging me? I lined up a good shot, but still waited. I just decided to throw something out there. "Is someone alive in there? Behind the stuff?". No response at all. "Fine." I refocused and aimed at its head, but something snapped behind me. A twig. I looked quickly over my shoulder, and another one was sneaking up on me. Those suckers tried to distract me and kill me from behind. I turned my rifle and shot it immediately, twice in the chest with dead accuracy, and turned back to see the other one already in the air pouncing towards me. Too late to fire. I held my rifle up for it to grab, and we both fell to the ground, it on top of me. The black tendrils, reaching out to infect me, inches from my chest. It screeched as I fought with my life. I acted quickly, pushing it and the rifle off to the right, grabbing my knife out of its holster, and shoving it into its neck shortly after. It lay motionless with only a few muscle twitches. I got back up and slowed my breathing. The other symbiote lay also on the shoulder of the road, but it was still breathing. I walked up to it and looked down at it. Another gunshot cracked across the area, and the body was still. I would have kept it suffering, but I knew there was a person suffering under there too. I took a deep breath, got into the truck, and drove off. I thought to myself again as I continued driving. Is killing necessary now? Yes. Yes it is.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Home**

 **April 1st, 2017-** We found a cure. It's all over… April fools. It's still terrible, even worse in New York. Yes, I finally made it to New York, but I'm still not to the safe haven yet. Gotta cross this one bridge. A street sign was spray painted back there that said military checkpoint. I wonder what happened to it? Let's find out.

I had to recon the area first. I had to look for any cover to shoot from, and get out quickly. I moved downstream, while keeping the bridge in view. The bridge was obviously a military checkpoint before crap hit the fan, but now at least a dozen symbiotes roamed the area, looking for their next victim trying to cross. There were already a few cars sitting there, their doors opened and ransacked. I had the right gun for the job, a M98B with a suppressor. I had picked it up while I was in oklahoma. The original owner served in the marines.

I found a suitable spot to shoot, a medium sized boulder with long grass on either side, making for extra cover. I checked behind my back one more time before settling down on the ground. I used the rock as a rest for the gun and slowed my breathing. Flashbacks hit me left and right. I imagined myself hunting for deer with my father. I looked over to the left, but he wasn't there, like he usually was when we hunted. I remorsed for a second but then refocused at the symbiotes. I counted them off. There were 10 of them. I waited, aimed, and slowly breathed out as the first bullet hit the head of the first one. I chambered a round quickly and aimed it at another one. I caught a quick glimpse of it, it was obviously confused. It dropped out of view as the bullet hit its head. By now, the other symbiotes realized what was going on. They ran for cover, however they still didn't know where the bullets were coming from. I took out two more before one saw my gun flash. It screeched and pointed at me. I looked up from the scope. I had to move into the treeline.

I got up and harnessed the sniper around my back, and then pulled out my glock 17. I still had to kill 6 of them, one at a time. Maybe I should have listened to the sign and not have come here. Oh well. Yolo, right? I dashed into the treeline and kept my eyes on the direction of the bridge. They would be over here in a few sec… actually, they're here now. One came into view and I raised my pistol and shot once. Miss. I shot again and it hit it right in the temple. Another o-, no, two more came, and I shot at the first one. The second one hesitated and stopped. It stood in an aggressive manner, but it didn't move any closer. I wasn't going to get backstabbed again, so I aimed and was about to shoot, when it turned and ran off. I was confused. I wasn't getting stabbed in the back, so why'd it run off?

I looked down at the one dead and one wounded symbiote. It didn't… want to die, did it? Was it capable of thinking that? Holy hell, these things were even smarter than I originally thought. I walked to the wounded symbiote, who had been shot in the leg. It was trying to crawl away. I stood over it, and it looked up at me, in a sneering fashion. I looked at it, snorted, lifted my boot, and curb stomped it on a rock. I wiped the black and red blood off my boot onto some grass. _Good riddance_ , I thought to myself. I then went back upstream and to my parked truck a few yards away around a turn. I put my sniper in the back seat then got into the truck and drove towards the bridge. When I got there, I stopped. A dead soldier lie still on the ground next to a small tent. I got out, yanked his dog tags off, took his ammunition, and left. I looked at them. It read:

 **Smith, John J.**

 **O Pos**

 **Catholic**

I looked at it one more time and then put it in the glove box. Maybe it will be important in counting casualties later. If this ever blew over. Maybe the safe haven was working on a cure? I hadn't thought much about what the safe zone would look like. Huge walls? Protection? How much longer will it last? I had so many questions.

I weaved in and out of broken down vehicles, and each one had a different story from their different users. I turned onto a longer road, and punched the pedal, going 80 on a 50. But no one was there to judge me, so I didn't think much of putting my life at risk when speeding down a road. I glanced at my GPS. One more hour, really? I was close. Kingston was where I was headed, specifically. It was a town much like mine, the same amount of people and such, but no friends nor family. I sped down the road. Anything that stood in front of the road would end up being flattened. My heart was racing. Couldn't wait. Some time passed. The truck's fuel read low. I had some gas left, thankfully.

I slowed down and pulled into a small corner store. I looked at the gas prices and chuckled a bit. _4 dollars per gallon? Didn't have those prices in Texas_. I hopped out of the truck and grabbed the gas can in the back. I was looking around and observing the store itself. Its windows were shattered and aisles were cleaned out. I shook my head as the gas ran out. I capped it and got back into the truck. Where are all the other survivors? There were plenty out there, but why haven't I seen any? I backed out of the store and drove off. I sighed and glanced at the GPS again. 20 minutes. I looked at myself in the mirror's reflection. I looked back at the road, and slammed the brakes. In front of me, covering the whole road, lay an 18 wheeler. It was flipped over and the contents of it, soda, lay everywhere. Most of the cans were smashed and empty. I had to drive off the road and into the grass to get around. I noticed there was already ruts from other vehicles going around it. I turned and went around. What a mess.

When I went around, and the other side of the road came into view, I hesitated. 3 symbiotes were there, kind of just hanging out in the middle of the road. They turned their heads, and I simultaneously sped up to run them over. I hit two, but the third one moved out of the way. It didn't bother following me. I had already hit 50 mph. Blood covered the front grill, adding to the already blood stained front. That's not the best sign, considering that there were symbiotes 15 minutes away from the safe haven. Any gunshot, they would be able to hear within this range. I kept going, hoping that the compound hadn't been destroyed already. Time passed. I was looking now, looking for life. Where was it? I was going down an empty street when something blue caught my eye on the right. It showed for a moment before disappearing over the treeline. I turned the following street, which led to a view that I would never forget.

The compound had a blue… forcefield around it, which sort of glowed like electricity. When I drove closer, I noticed sniper towers on each of the supporting columns for the wall. Suddenly, when I got to a point of the road, a microphone boomed. " **Stop the car, now.** " I did as told. A military APC of sorts drove right through the blue shield and stopped some 25 yards away. I sat there, heart pounding. The .50 cal on the APC was pointing right at me. The voice boomed again. " **Get out of the car, hands in the air. If you refuse to comply, then you will be shot.** " I opened the door, and slipped out with my hands up. I thought to myself, _Is this standard procedure? Just in case of looters? Probably._

Four well-armed men came out from the back of the APC. Then one more came out, less armed but he was still carrying a shotgun. One of the armed men came up to me and said, "Hands behind your back." Confused, I did this almost not thinking about it. He went behind me and zip tied me. "Why are you doing this?" I asked. He didn't reply but kicked my legs in, putting me on my knees. The less armed man said with a deep voice, "Are you lost, young man?" "No, I came from the radio broadcast. It said to come here." I replied. He inspected my truck and then me. "Alrighty." He said. He looked at something to the right of me and shook his head. I looked to the left, and a dart hit the side of my neck. One of the men had shot me with a dart gun. I grimaced and looked back at the man. There was 3 of them, I was becoming dizzy and I was starting to pass out. Almost like an echo, I heard, "Welcome home" and slowly faded out as I hit the pavement.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: New**

No Journal Entry

Everything had a fuzzy look to it. I looked around hazily and saw my family, standing, with a worried look on their face. "Mom, Dad?", I barely said. My sister raised her arm, and pointed at me. I looked at myself. Black, all over. My hands had claws. I looked back up, in fear. My father pointed a rifle at me, while my mom and sister stood behind him. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out as I spoke. I raised my hand in attempt to stop him, but the gun cracked, and I fell. Unable to move. Unable to speak.

I draw a gasp of air as blinding light filled my eyes and made me shadow the light with my hand. Except my hand couldn't move. Nor my other hand. Nor my legs. As my eyes adjusted, more detail came into view. I was in a room, about the size of a bedroom. But there was beeping every few moments, and there were a few small tables surrounding me. What look like surgical instruments lay on them. I then realized I was strapped to a bed at a 45 degree angle. This was a hospital, from what I perceived. But why was I in here? I looked around in confusion. All I could try is to struggle free of the straps. A door or something slid open behind me, and I tried to turn and look, but I couldn't see behind me. A middle aged voice broke the silence. "You're a ways from Texas, aren't you boy?" I only managed to stutter my words, as I felt numb from whatever they gave me. "No, keep it to yourself. You'll be able to talk later." He finally walked into view. I wasn't surprised when he had on a white lab coat. He had jet black hair, with a bit of gray on the sides. The beeping from the heartbeat monitor increased. "Take it easy, big fella; You're one of a kind." I looked at him in confusion. He continued, "Specimen 7SY is our only strain to bond with its host without killing it. However, it will change you physically at an extreme level. Hopefully you will help us for the better." I didn't know what to say. I finally put some words together. "Why me? Why do you have to make me like this?" He turned and looked at me, setting down a syringe, "We have had many trials and all of them have failed so far. We were running out of people to test our new strains on. So, we released radio broadcast signals from numerous places around the United States. Hence, why you're here, and many others like you. Seeking hope. You will get what you wish for, but it will be paid with a price. We will continue to perform test on you and your new 'body', if I must call it that. Things you consider physically straining will not be such anymore. Now," He motioned at the door behind me, "You should probably get some rest. You have many test to take tomorrow."

The door opened and two guards appeared. They unstrapped me and practically drug me out; I was very weak and drugged up. They took me through a white hall which made them two stand out, considering they were in all black. They eventually took me down a hall with many doors. All of them had their own number and small window. These were holding cells. I was put in one. It looked just like prison cells in the TV shows I sometimes used to watch. A toilet, sink, mirror, and bed. That was it. They basically pushed me into the room, so I stumbled and caught myself on the sink. I turned, but the door was already closing. I was trapped. The door didn't even have a handle on it in the inside. I looked back into the mirror. I looked like I did months ago. Only my eyes appeared to be droopy in some sorts. I was wearing a white t-shirt and white shorts. Was everything white here? I smirked for the first time in a while. I quickly realized how I was even holding myself up anymore. I was sore all over. I collapsed into the bed and stared at the roof for a while. I couldn't even think. I just shut my eyes and let exhaustion put me to rest.

I woke up to the beep of a small intercom. "Get changed in five minutes. We will begin testing soon." I mumbled under my breath and rubbed my head. I looked around and noticed a white shirt and white shorts sitting in front of the door. I sat up in my bed and looked at my hands. Still the same. I turned and got up, moving towards the fresh clothes. I removed my old shirt and tossed it on the bed. I looked into the mirror and froze. I was toner, more built. I examined myself all over. What did they do to me? Steroids? I continued changing, still confused. The door knocked, unlocked, and opened. An armed guard walked in partially and motioned me outside. I walked out where another man who looked as a scientist met me. "What did y'all do to me?" I asked him. He looked down at his clipboard that he was holding and said, "We're not sure." I followed him with more guards down the white hall. "Your first test is ahead."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Tests**

No journal entry

I have become a lab rat for this place. I have been put through enough. I traveled half a country to be saved. Now, I'm just a slave to these people. They stuck needles into me, to either put stuff in or to get blood. My blood was darker. They fed me raw meat. For some reason that I could not conclude, I could now eat raw meat without getting sick. It was quite interesting. At times I thought how impressive it was that they did all this stuff to me. They put me through physical boot camps, increasing my agility, all while the men in white coats studied my every move, every expression. They just forced me to do this stuff. If I resisted, they would give me a controlled shock. Eventually, I just did as I was told. Although, I got a very bad headache every time I received a shock. I had no idea why. But past all of the negatives, at a few points of however long I've been here, I was glad that I was fed 3 meals a day, and had a roof over my head. The symbiotes were now a small fear in the back of my head.

After a decent lunch, I was casually waiting for my next test in my cell. The door unlocked, and I stood up with my hands together so they could cuff them. They took me down the usual hall, but this time into another room which I had not been in a while. "We're gonna give you a CT scan, and see what's going in that head of yours." Another scientist told me. I laid down and entered the tube. After a few minutes, they pulled me out and a few scientists were looking at a couple of computer screens with a look of half concern and half curiosity. I couldn't hear them behind the glass but I figured what they saw was not normal. A guard took me to another room shortly after. It was the drugging room. They strapped me into the chair, just like usual. But this time, I had a hint of curiosity what the scientists were looking at. Is there something wrong with my head? Side effects? The questions in my head were cut short with one of the scientists walking into the room. He had a few pictures of what appeared to be a color shaded brain. My brain.

"Your CT scans revealed very surprising results. We did not… expect this to happen at all." He flipped the photos to show me what looked like a brain partially covered in black mold, or something of the sort. I looked at him, back to the pictures, and back at him again. "What the hell are you doing to me?" I spoke with aggression in my tone. He pulled the photos away. "The Specimen 7SY was supposed to enhance physical activities, if I must call it that. That means agility, reaction time, muscle growth, and such of the sort. What we saw in the CT scan was not physical, but physiological enhancement. Your brain is being affected, which is something we do not want at all." "And why is that?" "You… probably don't want to know." He spoke the last sentence with anxiousness. Like he wasn't a scientist, but a person concerned about my own health as if it were his. I looked down at my hands. "How can you stop it?" "I'm not sure. You're the first patient to survive after being injected with specimen 7SY, so you're essentially our lab rat. We will have to conduct more tests on you to figure this problem out. Hopefully 7SY does not spread to the emotional section of your brain." He walked out of the room momentarily, only to return with a syringe. "This'll put you out for some time so we can examine you some more." He stuck it in me, and I slowly drifted off.

I woke up drowsily to see the same scientist typing into a computer across the room. Couldn't make out what he was typing. He looked over and saw I was awake. "The tests were inconclusive. We have no idea why it targeted your brain, but it's still spreading slowly. Let me ask you something," He stopped typing, "are you getting headaches when we shock you?" "Yeah, that's why I stopped resisting so quickly" He mumbled something under his breath, and continued typing. He finished and walked out of the room, leaving me and one guard, standing in the corner. The guards didn't really talk, they only just gave me orders. He was just armed with a pump shotgun. They wore masks and combat armor, but why? What could possibly happen inside a compound like this? Whatever. The scientist walked back in. His body tone changed completely. I read him like a book. Anxiety, stress, worry, and such. Even his words spoke along with it. "We're moving you to another room." He motioned the guard who then unstrapped from the chair and led me to a new room.

The room had a chair. It wasn't an ordinary chair. It was for electric pulses. Only the guard went into the room with me, the scientist kept going into another room. The guard sat me down into the chair and clamped me in. A window was facing me in the room, which a different scientist was standing. The other scientist I knew appeared in the same room, but he shuffled behind the older scientist. The older scientist looked down at a control board I assumed. The chair suddenly hummed to life, and my whole body tingled just a slight amount. I tried to struggle out. "What are y'all doing?!" I shook with all my strength. The tingling crept up to a painful state. The headache started. "Shut it off!" My muscles tensed up, and the corners of my eyes were starting to blacken up. My head felt like it was being split open. I saw the scientist I knew grab the other one with urgency, I read his lips, saying to stop. The older one shoved him off, in response the other one struck him across the head. He covered the punch with his mouth, in obvious pain. A guard appeared in the room, and struck the scientist down with his shotgun. He fired a single shot down at the floor, at the scientist I knew.

I breathed harder, louder. The guard in my room noticed and raised his gun uneasily. The guard just killed that man, because he did not want to hurt me. Images came into my mind, replacing the headache, almost like I snapped. I wished death to the older scientist. Death to the guard. Death to everyone that roamed this compound. It was a violence that trumped every emotion I've ever had. It was not me thinking this, yet I could not control it. My arms lifted up, as did my legs. I had completely broke the shackles that bound me to the chair. The shocking stopped, but my emotions were the same. The guard yelled stay back, with his shotgun raised. I took a step, he fired, but I completely jerked myself out of the way. I didn't have time to react, my body just did it. Before he could pump another round into the gun, I grabbed the gun and slammed the stock into his helmet. His head was smashed into the wall. I had no remorse. Just rage. Something was wrong with me. I just snapped. But I couldn't control my actions, even though a small voice in my head didn't want to kill the guard. I pumped the shotgun, and turned towards the window. The older scientist looked at me in horror. I just shot at the glass, but it was bulletproof. So I just slammed the stock of the gun on the door handle. An alarm started going off. I pumped the shotgun, took a deep breath, and kicked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Control**

No journal entry

It was like a dream amongst reality. Noises, yelling, the alarm, all echoed in my ears. Every corner I turned revealed more guards and innocent people. I gunned them all down, regardless. Each clean, white hallway, turned into graves for these people that brought pain and imprisonment to me for… however long I was here. The voices told me to. And I listened to every order. Every word the voice spoke, I listened. The power it told me I could have. I could be invincible. It was convincing, the voice made me sound inept and not fit to survive past the compound walls. It's one of the symbiotes. I'm one of the symbiotes. This is what it felt like. It feels like I'm part of something bigger. Reaching every corner of the globe, consuming all life in its wake. But first, I still have to get out of this compound. Every hall twisted and turned like a maze, any exit blocked off by more guards. Turning a corner, I saw the older scientist trying to frantically unlock a door with a set of keys. When he noticed me walking towards him, he began to panic, and accidentally dropped the keys. He gave up on the door and ran to multiple doors, trying to open them. None of them would budge. I was tired of his pathetic panicking, so I fired a load of buckshot into his leg. He fell to the floor in agony. My shadow rested over him as he looked at me in terror. He didn't understand the power the symbiotes give us. But he doesn't deserve it, anyways. He broke the silence, "We were trying to help you, boy. You have to fight it! If you lose control, it's all over for you." I scoffed. "Trust me doctor, if I had lost control, I wouldn't be able to do this." I raised my foot and curb stomped his head into the tile flooring.

Grabbing his keycard, I was finally able to open one of the exit doors. Daylight streamed into my eyes, the first time in… months it seemed. But my reunion with the outdoors was cut short by footsteps echoing down the hall behind me. More guards were coming. I shut the door behind me, and looked ahead at my surroundings. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I realized I was pinned against a wall, looking at some dozen guards. The voice inside me stopped talking. It was like it hesitated, trying to find a way out of the situation. I dropped the gun, because I wasn't about to take on all of them. The voice in my head spoke up again. It said to let them take you back in. It has an idea. I thought getting captured again was a ridiculous idea, yet I was curious what the voice was planning to do. One of the guards zip tied my hands together and led me back into the compound doors. As he led me through the halls, the damage I had done was now visible through my own eyes. It made me sick. I did not do this, but the voice assured me it was for a better cause. I didn't think it was, but I still agreed anyways for some reason. The guard shoved me into a cell. "You stay put now." He said as he slammed the door.

Since my hands were still tied, I couldn't do anything. The voice told me to stand in front of the sink. I looked into the mirror. My eyes. Dark, but not completely gone. I suddenly felt sick, and felt something rising up my throat. I threw up thick, black ooze into the white sink. I stepped back in horror. It moved. The voice made me relax. Said it was good, it would get me out of here. The symbiote form moved up the wall effortlessly and rested itself right above the door. I knew what it was going to do. It was going to infect the guard. I stood back and waited for the guard. Not 15 minutes later, the door flew open, and a guard with a taser walked in a stood right over the door. He yelled, "Do you have any idea how many people you killed?!" I stood there, resilient, not speaking. "Maybe you need to learn your lesson." He turned on the taser, moved, but not one step before the symbiote form dropped. He instantly panicked. He dropped the taser and tried his best to stop it from spreading, but it only made it worse. Soon, a full formed symbiote stood before me. It looked at me, looked down and picked up the taser. It walked towards me. I began walking back in fear, but it stopped. It reached its hand out, cut my zip tie with its claw, and gave me the taser. I nodded, and we both walked out of the cell.

What once was my one desire to kill is now my ticket out of captivity. Isn't that ironic? I armed myself once again as me and the symbiote walked down the hall. The voice told me to stop. The symbiote kept walking, turned the corner, and growled. Out of sight, I heard a panicked yell, gunshots, and then it was silent. Another symbiote walked into view, as well as the original. The voice told me to follow them. They knew the way out. As we were making our way down the hall, I studied them. Ripped muscle, tone build. Improved agility, strength, and motor control. I studied myself. I wasn't covered in the black ooze, yet I gained the skills the symbiote had. The scientists injected the symbiote into me. They didn't cover me in it. All the puzzle pieces were fitting into place. All of the questions I had were being answered by the voice. The surge of potential came back to me. It was like dopamine. Like a natural drug in my head that made me feel invincible. It is unexplainable. I couldn't stop thinking about it. The more I thought about it, the less I heard of my own voice. It was trying to control me. Tempt me. I stopped walking. I looked down at my hands. Blood stained. This wasn't me. This is me… this is... US. What? Did I say us?

I looked up. The two symbiotes were standing in front of me. I stepped back. What the hell is happening to me. One of the symbiotes grabbed my shirt. It yanked me up against the wall, lifting me up off my feet. Reality hit. I am one of them now. My thoughts belonged to the symbiotes. It knows everything I think. I couldn't escape now. I had to submit, or they would kill me. The symbiote threw me to the floor. They got what they wanted. Submission. I got up and continued to follow them. We continued down the hall. They would kill more of the guards as we roamed the compound. I just nonchalantly followed them, though I wanted to run. A scientist, laying on the floor bleeding out reached out and brushed my leg. I looked down at him. "Pathetic." escaped my lips. I executed him. No remorse. No emotion. Only hate. I snagged his keycard in his coat and opened a door that was labeled as storage. The symbiotes went first and killed a few guards. Inside was rows and rows of food, guns, and about everything you could have for surviving something like this. I noticed all of my backpacks I had were on a shelf. I repacked everything that was mine, as well as a few more guns, ammo, and food. Past the rows of loot were a few trucks, including what appeared to be mine. One of the symbiotes yanked my shirt back before I could inspect my truck. Simultaneously the voice ordered me to shut off the force field. The force field would kill me if I passed through it, it said. If the force field were opened, everyone else remaining in the compound would likely be killed from invading symbiotes. Who cares, the voice said. Why do they matter to you? Made sense.

Backtracking, moving through the halls again. More death and slaughter. No opinion. Just going to shut off the gate. A breaker box. No labels so I just shut all of them off. The alarm stopped beeping, all the lights went off, and I stood in absolute darkness. Except it wasn't all darkness. Seeing more and more objects around me as the seconds went by. I could see in the dark now, except it was not colorful. Things with a definite shape had a gray contrast to them, and stuck out from the walls and such. I took a step. The echo did not stop for about five seconds as it bounced down multiple halls. Echos came from multiple sources now, because there wasn't just me left in the compound. I ignored the noises involuntarily and headed back to the exit. The symbiotes were waiting for me in the supply shed with the garage door already open. Daylight poured into the room as my eyes adjusted to the fresh sunlight. One of the symbiotes did an 'After you' gesture towards my truck. As I climbed into my vehicle, both of them climbed into the back. I took the keys from the dashboard and slid them into the ignition. One twist and the engine sputtered and roared to life.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: We**

"Why are you doing this?" my mouth managed to sputter out. 'Why are we doing this?' it voiced in my head. The truck sped down the empty two lane road. 'Well, think of it this way-' instantly, images of my past flooded my memories. Memories I had forgotten about, but all of them were memories of my wrongs and shortcomings. All of the people that thought that I couldn't. They replayed, except this time, I was the right one. I did what people said I couldn't. The memories stopped. '-The way I see it, I am doing you a favor. We both benefit from each other this way.' I was baffled. "We? I didn't ask for one bit of this! You killed a dozen people back there!" More memories, the tests flashed before me. All the medications they put in my body, the physical pain I endured for so long. 'Do I have to explain why we killed them again? They only hurt us for personal benefit. That's all what humans do. Selfishness.' I thought of myself. "What about innocent people? You've killed millions for what?" My foot pressed on the brake pedal and the truck came to a stop. 'Your race has retaliated because they wish not to be controlled. Violence is answered with consequences. No one is innocent now.' My blood boiled. "My family! Everything I was working towards! Gone!" My head was throbbing tremendously. I was resisting the symbiotes control over me. That's all it was trying to do. It knows I will succumb eventually. Deceit and sugar-coated evil. My hands were shaking on the steering wheel. "NO MORE." The truck door swung open as my pistol unholstered. The symbiotes in the back of the truck didn't last long against the Glock. Trying to stop the disease in my body seemed impossible. I would become a monster like the rest of my family very soon. The gun pressed against my head. 'Is this really your best way out of this?' My head was in so much pain that everything started turning black and white. My footing stumbled and I fell on my back. The gun discharged a shot next to my ear, narrowly missing my skull. My left ear rang as pain shot throughout my body. The voice was in just as much pain as I was in. Could it be that we share the same pain now? That would explain the compound alarms giving me a headache. What would happen if I tried to get rid of the symbiote? Would I die with it? The thoughts faded away as I blacked out on the pavement.

"Hey dude. Come back to , there you go. Welcome back to the land of the awake. Your gunshot was heard by everyone in a three mile radius. We need to go." The voice echoed in my blank mind. My eyes opened to a shadow standing over me. I grunted and rolled on my stomach. He spoke out again. "How long have you been out?" The headache was still lingering, but it was not as bad prior to me passing out, thankfully. "What?" I groaned out. The pavement was hot on my face which woke me up a little bit. "They're coming. Why did you fire your gun, idiot? You could have used a knife." I looked up, turning over. As my eyes looked past the sun and into the shadow. A college student with a slight stubble looked at me. "Are you alright? Why the hell are there symbiotes in your truck bed anyways?" I sat up and looked at my hands. Normal hands. "Its… It's a long story. I don't have time to explain. I never got a name from you?" He helped me get on my feet. "Name's paul. Yours?" I stopped "Oh. My name? Uh... I'm actually not sure. I forgot I guess." I shrugged it off, but he was more surprised than I was. "You forgot your own name? Really?" I stooped down and grabbed the pistol. "Well, I've been alone for a while. I'll probably remember eventually. We probably should go now like you said." Paul looked around and scoped out the tree lines. "Yeah. Is your truck running? We need to get outta here. Those things are coming." When he said 'things', all of the events from before I passed out came back to me. I think I went pale because he noticed. "Dude, are you okay? You're really pale. Are you sick?" I looked down at my pistol, on the ground. "You need to get away from me. Right now. Take my truck and go." He tilted his head. "What are you talking about? The things will kill you!" The voice wasn't talking at all. I had no thoughts like earlier.

"No, they won't. Trust me. I'm not…" Out of the overgrown tree line, came a pack of symbiotes. They snarled at the sight of us. The thoughts came back when I saw them. Kill Paul. Shoot him in the head. Better yet, help the symbiotes. No, I couldn't. That's not me. "Paul, get in the passenger side right now." He rushed off, not before firing off a few shots at the symbiotes with his own pistol. To my surprise, he struck one in the shoulder, in which it immediately made the rest of the pack angrier. They charged me, coming in at about 40 yards, and closing in. I got a few shots off of my own, just for suppression, before hopping into the truck with Paul. It cranked to life, and I gassed the pedal. I checked the mirror, and one of them had managed to make it into the bed of the truck. Paul panicked a bit and threw a few vulgar words. I was not too concerned, as I had dealt with this before. I got to about 60 mph on a straightaway, and slammed the brakes. It flew forward, out of the bed and over the roof, onto the pavement. I then drove forward, crushing it onto the pavement. He looked back at the dead body and then at me. I shrugged. "You do this often?" "Uh… it's an occupational hazard I suppose." Paul laughed a bit. That's the first laugh I heard in a few weeks I think. It was refreshing. I slowed down on the road a bit. "You have questions? Let's stop and I can answer them." He shrugged, "Sounds good to me." We slowed down on the shoulder and he recalled some of his questions he initially had.

"What were you doing on the ground?" I thought frantically for a false story. "Those symbiotes in the back? They jumped in to my truck when I was driving off earlier. I got out and killed them. Then, my clumsy ass tripped and I think I hit my head? Knocked me out cold." He seemed a bit confused. "And you just layed there? How did no other symbiotes not come for you as soon as the gun shot off?" Shrug. "Beats me. I guess I'm lucky." Paul seemed to be interested in all the gear in the backseat of my truck. "All this stuff? I got it when I drove from Texas." He looked at me crazily. "You're from Texas? What are you doing up here?" More lies. "I-... uh, came for some family. Grandparents." "And where are they?" Fake frown. "I think they're gone. Couldn't find them." Paul didn't seem too concerned. He'd probably lost everything like I did. A generation's future ruined by this. Ruined? What good did you already have? You were a worthless clump of cells before this. Paul interrupted my other halves thoughts. "Where are we going next?" In the mirror, the road laid behind me. We needed a compound to survive this. The lab compound would do. "I know a place near here." Either way, I could still get some answers about my… disease. "Is it safe there?" I looked at Paul. "Nothing will be able to get in."

We did a U-turn, past the place I found Paul, and up to the compound. The closer we got to the compound, the sicker I felt. It didn't want me to be there. It knew something I didn't. "It's not in its best state right now. I think it was attacked." "Well is it safe to go to? Will we find any symbiotes there?" "Probably. They shouldn't be a problem. Got a gun?" Paul upholstered an m9. "I'm lightly armed. Nothing special." We rolled up to the long road which led to the compound. He was in quite awe, but I wasn't so impressed. I still thought of the time I was stuck here, though I tried to hide my grudge. "Is this military?" "I'm not really sure, I couldn't get close enough to find out when I scouted the area earlier this week." He also noticed the fencing here was very minimal. "How do these fences keep them out?" I ran my finger along the line of taller posts around the compound. "These poles right here? There's some kind of electric wall that comes up and keeps them out. I don't know how it exactly works, but we need to get it back up and running stat." "And how do we get in?" I looked around the front of the place, pretending to look for an entrance, though I already knew where it was. "It's there I think. Some people came in and out of it." The whole place was empty to my surprise. I thought there would at least be a symbiote or two. "Where is everyone?" "Like I told you, I think they were attacked. I heard a ton of gunfire the other day. This place should be well armed. I don't know where the symbiotes are. There should be plenty here. Get ready for a fight." Before we got out, we armed ourselves. He took one of my AR's, I took the shotgun with the flashlight. As we approached the door, we noticed it was slightly open. The alarm had stopped, and an eerie silence fell before us. A leg was keeping the door open.

Paul looked nervous at the sight of the leg, but I assured him we would be alright. We both had good experience fighting symbiotes. We decided that the best move would to go straight to the gate controls and turn them on, before clearing the rest of the compound. I would go in first. Paul swung the door open, revealing the rest of the body on the floor, and a bloody hallway. The body wasn't a scientist or guard. It looked like the person was a random survivor. They were eaten a bit. I sighed it off and prepared myself to turn the first corner. Paul was close behind me. I flipped on the flashlight, because the lights were off and the door was the only sunlight coming in. I turned the corner, and there crouching a symbiote, eating a scientist. The light startled and it spun to face us, screeching. It took one step before I blew its head off. It flopped to the floor, and an immense pain rolled over my body. Paul caught me from falling and put me steadily on the floor. "Are you alright? I didn't see what happened! Are you bit?" I shook my head and motioned him away. He was still confused. "I'm fine. The shotgun blast startled me. I forgot they could be so loud indoors. Take the lead, I'll cover your back." In reality, the symbiote knew what just happened. Consequences for killing another one of them. Paul would kill more, the voice wanted him dead in here. He helped me up and we continued down the hall. The voice pushed me to do it's deed, like an itch that couldn't go away in my head. We reached another split in the hall, and Paul pointed at a sign. "It says the control room is this way. Do you think the lights are there too?" "Yes," as I added another shell to my shotgun, "the gate is a priority though. We can't let more of these into-" My ears picked up a swift motion down the hall. The shotgun flashlight shone down and coming right for Paul was a bigger-than-usual symbiote. Paul haphazardly grabbed for his pistol, but I yanked him back and simultaneously used the shotgun as a bar to shove the symbiote down onto the ground and pin it. We struggled on the ground as it tried to free itself and go for Paul. The screeching made my mind numb, yet a spiking pain still shot throughout my body. "PAUL! SHOOT IT!" The pistol appeared next to my head and fired one shot into it's skull. My ears rang as I fell over once more in immense pain. "Hey! Hey! Get up! There's more coming!" He looked up worryingly and ran off. My vision faded and the last thing I saw was a couple more symbiotes running down the hall.


End file.
